What To Do If Your iPhone Keeps Shutting Off Repeatedly

If your iPhone has started majorly glitching out, I'm sure you're a little ball of stress right now. Since Dec. 2, many users have reported that their iPhones have taken to repeatedly restarting on their own — every 10 seconds or so, according to some users, their phone's screen will flicker to black, and a spinning wheel of death will appear for a few moments before the phone eventually restarts... only for the entire process to start itself over mere moments later. If you're experiencing this, don't worry: Your phone is not possessed, or even worse, broken. In fact, what to do when your iPhone shuts off or goes dark for no reason at all is pretty simple! Lucky for you, I can walk you through a hack fix that will whip your phone back into shape, and more importantly, keep it from shutting off over and over without you so much as touching it.

According to the computer whiz site ZDNet, the problem is rooted in a strange bug in iOS 11, although not every user with iOS 11 is experiencing it. In short, the bug causes the phone's processor usage to spike to 100 percent when any app sends a notification — the spike then causes the device to heat up, which then causes your phone to force a reset. Vicious cycle. To make things even more nuanced, the types of notifications that are summoning this glitch are auto-generated rather than activity-related. For example, when your bestie likes one of your Instagrams, that type of notification won't likely have any effect on your phone, but if an app decides to send one of those "haven't seen you in a while!" push alerts, that may prompt the glitch to occur. The worst part of this glitch, really, is that once your phone goes black, it seems like there's nothing you can do because it appears dead. However, don't worry — it's just playing dead! Just restart your phone, take a deep breath, and follow these easy, two-part instructions to demolish the bug, which are courtesy of Apple's support site.

Head To Settings

Ad failed to load

Before you update your phone to remove the bug, you're going to have to head to your settings to change the way your phone automatically allows app notifications. This is important, because it might increase your chances of crushing this bug. Tap your apps, one at a time, and turn off "Allow Notifications." When you're done, every app on your phone should be switched to off in the notification center.

Update

Make sure you have enough storage space to download your iPhone's update to iOS 11.2, and that you're plugged into a power source. Once you're ready, head to Settings, note the update available, and update your phone. (Note: If your phone is in repeated restarting mode, you may have to work quickly to get to the update between reboots before your phone shuts itself off again. Don't be discouraged!) The new iOS 11.2 has everything you need to get rid of the bug, and prevent other things you haven't even dealt with yet.

Ad failed to load

Head Back To Settings

OK, you're almost done! Now that your phone has been updated, you have to head back to your settings and turn all of the app notifications back on so you can actually, you know, get notifications again. Though, if you'd like to change your notification game, this is a great time to weed out some pings that you no longer need — for instance, maybe you only want to be notified when an app you use very regularly has a message for you. Or, hey, maybe you want to leave all of your notifications disabled and go off the grid for a while. I don't know your life! Whatever works for you, just a suggestion: leave your bank notifications on!